Gamer (Gamer Trilogy) by Christopher Skliros

her and Xander
had been getting a little too friendly for my liking.
Xander. I was going to kill him myself – not because I
wanted to win, but because I wanted him to lose. He was the
all round nice guy, but he was a goose and it would be fun to
watch him squirm – unless Grace had already killed him…
“I don’t think we can get hungry in Simulator,” Stefanie said,
breaking the silence. “Only thirsty.”
I nodded, the soft flowing tone of her voice washing over
me… What was happening to me? Soft flowing tones – I
wasn’t a chick.
“What happened?” Stefanie asked, feeling her wound.
This was the tricky part of my plan. I needed to destroy any
chance Xander had with her. When I got her to dump me, he
was the last person I wanted her to hook up with and I
needed to make sure she wholeheartedly believed that he was
a threat. If she killed him herself, he’d feel betrayed enough to
never want to talk to her again – simple.
“This might be a little hard for you to hear,” I began,
feigning sadness.
Stefanie gave me a questioning look.
“Xander attacked us.” I said.
Stefanie’s body went rigid and I began speaking quickly.
“When I sent him off to get the water he must’ve doubled
back to the camp. When we went into the cave, he attacked
you from behind, hitting you with the butt of your own gun.”
She looked down as if to confirm her weapon was missing.
“You fell to the ground and so I teleported you away.” I
watched her reactions closely, she looked upset and even
betrayed – but she wasn’t disbelieving.
“I don’t know why,” I said, “but it was probably to get at me.
I think he wanted to be alone with you…”
For a moment I thought I’d pushed it too far, Stefanie gave
me an odd look in reaction to what I had suggested, but then
she nodded and seemed satisfied with my explanation.
“And where’s Grace?” She asked.
I made my expression even more grim and said, “she went
after him, on your behalf, but she hasn’t come back…”
Stefanie understood what I had implied and she sobbed.
Getting a grip on herself, she stared into the distance for a
long moment.
Manipulating her was so easy, almost too easy. She was so
ready to believe anything I said and I admired her loyalty. I
wanted to console her, genuinely, but then I remembered
why I was deciding to break it off – I needed to be a free man.
I’m sure she’d understand…
She pulled herself upright and stood with what seemed to
be a renewed sense of direction. “Why didn’t he shoot me?”
she asked.
“Sorry?” I responded.
“Well you said he attacked me with my own gun, why hit me
with it when he could’ve just vaporised me?”
I ignored the question, having no way to respond, instead I
said, “Stefanie, you can’t keep dwelling on the past. The main
thing is you’re safe now and we now know that Xander is a
danger.” It seemed to work and as an after-thought, I pleaded
gently, “Be grateful?”
She looked at me and smiled, moving in for a kiss.
I hesitated; she sensed it straight away, taking a step back.
“What’s wrong?” She asked me, searching my eyes with hers.
“It’s nothing,” I answered. “I’m just tense from everything
that’s happened.”
She didn’t seem too satisfied with that answer and she shook
her head, “No, it’s something more – something you’re not
telling me. What’s wrong?” Her voice was soothing, calming,
coaxing.
“I-“
Footsteps.
We both tensed, alert for any sign of danger. At the edge of
the clearing, a silver bush rustled.
Before I could even exchange so much as a look with
Stefanie, we found ourselves surrounded by a sea of men.
Silently, they had materialized out of nowhere and I could
feel Stefanie begin to panic as she stepped into my arms.
There was something odd about the people however. Aside
from being completely silent, they seemed almost unreal.
Attempting to focus on any one individual proved impossible.